To balk at £27k estate agency fee and consider the online alternative

[lemsiptime]

We live in silly-house-price land - aka Greater London, and the modest Victorian mid-terrace house we bought 14 years ago, and extended, is now worth an eye-watering £900K.

Our DCs are approaching their teens and shooting up in height so we want to move to something a little bigger, slightly further out. We've had one estate agent round so far, and their fee is 2.5%+VAT which works out around £27.5K . To me that seems completely excessive, and could influence whether we're able to afford the step up to a bigger property.

I've read loads of bad reviews here on Mumsnet and MoneySavingExpert about Purple Bricks, and they don't seem to have many properties around our way (3 in a 2 mile radius) suggesting they're not exactly booming in popularity, but there's a huge difference between their flat fee (£1199) and £27K. I'm aware there are other online agencies too. AIBU to be tempted by that route? If so, please tell me what the more traditional estate agent will do for their money as I need to be convinced.

[lazydog]

We paid 1.25% when we last sold in the UK. I'm sure you can negotiate a better percentage than 2.5%

That said, be grateful you don't live in Canada. We recently had our selling realtor charge 7% on the first $100,000 and 3.5% on the balance. They do a hell of a lot more than an estate agent does, but even so - I wasn't expecting that much higher! (Could probably have got better rates somewhere where there was more competition, but there's hardly any where we live...)

[gillybeanz]

So is "Foxtons" the equivalent of the shop in that sketch "we saw you coming" Can anyone remember that.
It was really rich people paying well over the odds.

[OhBlissOhJoy]

Just sold my house (in Greater London). Had 3 agents round and told them all that I wanted 1%. They all agreed.

[cherrymix]

We sold our house with House network a few years ago. Got it valued with a few local agents and sold it for a price higher than the average of these valuations.

Having bought and sold several properties I am yet to be convinced by estate agents. They just reduce the transparency of the transaction and constantly make you feel as if they are lying.

As long as you have the time to devote to viewings, with a bit of practice you will be able to do a much better tour of your house than any estate agent. They just point out tedious stuff like dado rails, you can tell your viewers lovely stories about the fantastic summer party you had last year and how great it is to sit in a particular room when then sun is shining.

[RedastheRose]

Get several (at least 5) agents to view and value, ask them for suggestions as to anything that they think you need to do to improve the marketability of your house. Set the selling price at the middle of the valuations given. When you've got the valuations tell them that you have several agents quoting and ask them for their best commission rates. Once you've got the best rate agreed. Put it on with Purple Bricks for 10 weeks, if it doesn't sell give the one with the lowest commission rate a go. Do not agree to a joint agency. You can put it on with more than one agent, just make it clear in writing that only the one who first shows the eventual purchase round the property gets the commission. This is just a contract all terms are negotiable you just have to be confident and tell them what you will offer not accept what they want to offer you!

[SunnyCoco]

Agree with the others - shop around and haggle. We sold a property in Greenwich and paid 1% plus VAT
You have to negotiate and play them off each other

[SunnyCoco]

Agree with the others - shop around and haggle. We sold a property in Greenwich and paid 1% plus VAT
You have to negotiate and play them off each other

[AmberNectarine]

We're selling at the mo (in London) for a 1.25% fee, and I didn't even bother haggling.

In your position I would pay over 1.25% for sole agency and I'd probably insist on a sliding scale.

[HollySykes]

1% is standard.

Your house might 'sell itself' using an online agent but at what price? I had a couple in the office on Saturday telling me they'd sold with one and were pleased they'd sold it straight away for a little under the asking price. In our local market on their road nothing goes that low, we regularly sell £25 - £30k over, we'd have covered our fees and still made the client a lot more money.

[Trifleorbust]

It is a lot (do negotiate) but bear in mind that selling a house involves more than just showing round a couple of people. EAs spend money marketing their brand so that they have a ready pool of buyers (people with the cash and inclination, just just anyone). They field all enquiries, including from the nutters. They show people round, including the nutters and the timewasters. They negotiate on your behalf. They deal with the chain and issues arising from that. They deal with more nutters.

If you want to do all of that, use a website, but the cost of a service is for the people offering it to set.

[Trifleorbust]

And the reason Foxton's don't negotiate their fees is probably that they don't need your business that much. Gaining a reputation for being easy to get over a barrel probably isn't the best idea in their line of work!

[Henrysmycat]

We sold our with housenetwork too. We had 3 different valuations and picked the middle one. Housenetwork sent a photographer and everything went smoothly. We had our own solicitor. We were in pram central Chiswick at the time. The house went on the market at 8am, we had a booking for a viewing for the same afternoon, we sold that evening asking price. Completed in 6 weeks. We even invested in a PAYG mobile just in case we needed to filter calls but we never used it. Our house was of similar value OP, so I'd have hated to wasted the 2% EA were asking for what was less than a days job.

[LellyMcKelly]

I used Purple Bricks and got their agent to do the viewings. Couldn't fault them. If you are happy working online then it's a doddle. And you don't have to use their solicitors, though we did - again, no problems.

[Henrysmycat]

If you are in an area that would sell itself and your house is well presented and priced, don't bother with EA. It's not exactly, nuclear medicine however many 'bijoux' bathroom words they use. Having done this many time, you want a fair price for both you and your buyer. Screwing each other always leads to mess and delays and EA don't give a flying fig as long as money is coming.

[FrenchLavender]

You don't have to accept their fee. Find three agents you are happy with that offer similar levels of service and good standards of photo etc, and play them off against one another. If your house is going to be really easy to sell then you can negotiate down to as little as 1 or 1.5% and they can take it or leave it, it's still money for old rope to them. One of them is bound to take it. they know an easy sale when they see one.

[FrenchLavender]

Also agree with trying to sell it privately yourself. Prospective buyers often cruise up and down certain roads looking around and if there are other houses in your road up for sale then you could benefit from people arriving to view those If you put your own board and phone number up.

[1frenchfoodie]

I bought through Purple Bricks just over a year ago, the owner used them for viewings too and they were great tbh - replied quickly be mail and phone, really responsive. Not London though and guess it varies by office. I'd say it is definately worth seeing if other agents have lower commission.

[Ifailed]

Foxtons made me a similar offer last year, including a 900k valuation that I knew was too high, all other EAs suggested a lower one. In the end it went for 800k, fees were 1.25% after shopping around. Other local Foxton properties were still on the market when we completed.

[Licketysplits]

If you think the house will sell fairly quickly and you're happy to do viewings yourself, I really recommend House Network - we bought our house through them, and a few years later are now using them to sell. You do get someone who handles all the appointments, feedback, offers etc so you don't have to deal directly with buyers. I think if you pay extra they will do the viewings too. We've paid around £700 flat fee, might be more in London I guess. I've not heard good things about Purple Bricks though.

The main difference we've found to a high st agent is that you don't have someone with a ready list of people who might be interested, so you are purely relying on someone looking at the pics online and deciding to view. But if you know it will be in demand anyway then that might not be a concern.

[BillDoor]

IME estate agents do naff all to deserve those fees.

I sold my last place without any estate agents at all and it was bliss!

If you are confident you can find a buyer, just do it through your solicitor. It was so much less stress.
Less simpering and half truths too.

[Adnerb95]

27.5k certainly a high fee and I would see if they can reduce it a bit. However, traditional estate agents if they are good at their job do an awful lot more than just sell your property.
Their contact with buyers and chains in the process improves your chances of last-minute dicks renovations of price based on the fact that the hall needs repainted or people who haven't got their mortgage properly sorted or whatever.
As other PPs have said, they also can ensure that you get the right offer from the right buyer. Their fee ensures that it is absolutely in their interests for the sale to go through smoothly.
And no, I'm not an estate agent. Just aware that the trend these days seems to be to dismiss the value of professional and properly paid for expertise and experience. clutches pearls and hoicks bosom

[Adnerb95]

*renegotiations!!

[Figuringitout]

We used HouseSimple. Sold a property (in London) and paid a fixed fee of £750.
If you have the time to show people round, then it definitely something to consider. Online agents advertise on all of the major websites (rightmove/ findaproperty etc) which is where most people look.
We decided we would give it 2 months and if we hadn't had any joy we would suck it up and look for an estate agent. We didn't need to, we sold it within a month and saved ourselves a fortune.
Definitely worth investigating, especially in London.

[Figuringitout]

We used HouseSimple. Sold a property (in London) and paid a fixed fee of £750.
If you have the time to show people round, then it definitely something to consider. Online agents advertise on all of the major websites (rightmove/ findaproperty etc) which is where most people look.
We decided we would give it 2 months and if we hadn't had any joy we would suck it up and look for an estate agent. We didn't need to, we sold it within a month and saved ourselves a fortune.
Definitely worth investigating, especially in London.

[ceeveebee]

As someone who has been trying to buy a house for the past year I can tell you that since rightmove came along, they hardly seem to bother with keeping lists or marketing properties offline -we are a "high quality"'buyer as we're chain free (due to relocation we are renting) and have a fairly high budget, and we have registered with all local agents, we call or email them all regularly to see if they have anything new coming on - the best I might get is an email of the property details at the same time as it's added to rightmove, but often I get nothing and have to contact them when I see the rightmove advert.
The only thing I find agents useful for is pushing the transaction through once offers are accepted.